Life on the Line
by CalynnTheDeltoranOlympian
Summary: (After HoO. Both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood get along) Percy was kidnapped from Camp Half-Blood. He was beaten up and thrown into the cold wilderness. Jason finds him and tries to save him. Characters may be ooc. Sorry if the summary and/or story is bad. Please, PLEASE review...and no flames, please? Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
1. Chapter 1

**Percy**

The sharp, cold wind from the helicopter blades flung my bangs into my eyes, forcing me to squint. Through my eyelashes I could see one of my captors walking towards me. I hated this one the most out of all of them.

This man was enormous; easily over six feet tall, with muscles that made him look like he could rip a tree out of the ground and snap it in half with his bare hands. He had short, dark auburn hair and bushy eyebrows. Instead of dark eyes, like one would expect, he had eyes that were like ice. Those eyes could freeze you in your tracks, scared half witless.

I attempted to scoot back, but failed since my hands were bound behind my back and my ankles were tied together. He laughed at me and hauled me up by my injured left arm. It was all I could do not to scream. He glared and dug his fingers into the injury, making me clench my jaw. He would _not _get satisfaction.

My captor sighed with disappointment. A momentary feeling of triumph went through me. It was a feeling that faded when I saw where he was dragging me to. We stopped inches from the open door of the helicopter. He pulled me in front of him and I felt a searing pain in my right arm, just beneath the shoulder.

"Hope that hurt," He growled. "Watch out for the blades." Then he shoved me out of the door.

I landed with a painful thud in the snow, rolling a little bit. My arms, wrists, and ankles were on fire, and I was thoroughly covered in snow. I looked up at the shrinking form of the machine that brought me here, and I saw the man who kidnapped me, beat me down, stabbed me, and then threw me into the wilderness bound, bruised, and bleeding leaning out the door. He was smiling.

The last thought I had before the shadows of unconsciousness took over was: _The cruel jerk probably poisoned the blade…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Percy**

After what seemed like centuries, I vaguely heard a voice.

"Percy? Come on, Percy. Wake up. We need to get you out of here."

The voice in front of me sounded distant, but I could clearly hear the snow crunching from someone shifting. I tried to back up, even though I was lying on the ground, still tied up. I couldn't tell who was talking to me, the voice almost sounded familiar, but I couldn't see clearly, and until there was a face and body along with it, I wasn't going anywhere.

"Percy, it's just me. Jason. I'm the praetor at Camp Jupiter, along with Reyna. You know me."

"Jason?" I was shocked by how weak my voice sounded.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here. Both camps have been looking all over for you."

"Okay. I'm just going to have to trust that it's you by your voice. My eyes won't focus."

"Hmm. That's not good. Come on. I'll support you until we're on the pegasus. I can give you some nectar and ambrosia there. A blanket too, while I'm at it."

With that, he untied me, helped me up, and then put my arm around his neck. I tried not to put all of my weight on his shoulders. I started to say something, but Jason cut me off.

"Don't speak. Just conserve your energy. We'll talk later."

I nodded, my head feeling surprisingly heavy.

**Jason**

Percy seemed to be getting heavier the closer we got to the pegasus. Obviously something very bad had happened to him since he couldn't see or move without assistance. It was painful to see my best friend be brought so low, especially since he was so strong, both in will and strength.

"Come on, man. Stay with me. A little bit farther, then you can rest on the way."

Percy grunted softly and tried to walk. I tried to calm him and make him relax without making him feel helpless.

"Don't worry about trying to walk. Worry about staying awake, nothing else. You'll just tire out your body if you try to walk, and then you won't recover as fast."

He lifted his head up and looked at me with those unsettling sea green eyes. I could see an enormous amount of trust in them. He literally trusted me with his life. Suddenly my urge to save and protect him became fierce. Percy was _going_ to get to the pegasus and get through whatever this was. Then, once he heals, whoever did this to him will pay.

When I turned my attention back to the landscape, I saw the familiar color and outline of Skippy, Reyna's pegasus she had let me borrow.

I whistled and saw him turn his head and gallop towards us, his wings outspread.

"Good boy." I whispered.

I watched his form grow larger as he quickly made his way towards us in response to my call.

"Good boy," I repeated. "Hold still."

He tossed his head to show me that he understood and would obey.

"All right, Percy, I need to get you onto the pegasus. I'll do my best to stabilize you, but you need to help out. Okay?"

**Percy**

I nodded, even though I knew I couldn't do very much. I summoned what was left of my strength and struggled into the saddle with Jason's help, and then waited while he got a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders then climbed on behind me. Once he was on, however, my arms gave out and my balance abandoned me. Jason grabbed me by my shoulders, gently pulled me upright, and guided me forward until I was leaning against the neck of his pegasus. I felt my eyes start to droop.

_No, I have to stay awake. I might not live if I let myself sleep._

I forced my eyes back open, only to have them start closing again. I had planned to keep fighting this losing battle until I heard Jason say softly:

"Go ahead and sleep, Percy. I won't let you go anywhere."

**Jason**

Percy sighed and allowed himself to sleep. I was glad he was sleeping; his body needed the rest to heal. But, I was also worried. Sleep means the body relaxes, if his body relaxes and it turns out to be poison, his muscles will relax and it will be easier for the poison. Then again, his heart will relax so maybe his blood flow will slow. I just didn't know enough about first aid.

"Agh, stop it, Jason," I chided myself. "You're just going to make yourself worried and distracted. If that happens, then you could go off course and Percy may not make it to Camp Jupiter alive."

My outburst had caused Percy to stir. I paused to make sure he wouldn't fall off. When I was certain, I had my pegasus take off.

"Come on, girl. Let's get Percy to a safe place."

A few hours later, we got to the Caldecott Tunnel, the camp's magical entrance. I slowed down so the guards would recognize me. When they nodded respectfully, I told them to go to Praetor Reyna and tell her to meet me at the infirmary, and then sped up again trying to get there. When it was in sight, I slowed to a landing and cantered the rest of the way.

One of the medics saw me coming and stepped forward.

"Do you need help, Praetor?"

"Yeah, I found Percy Jackson. But, he's injured and I think he was poisoned."

The medic's eyes widened and he turned around and shouted for the others to bring a stretcher. He helped me lay Percy onto the stretcher, and then he and the rest of the medical team carried it away.

"What's wrong with Percy?" Reyna suddenly appeared beside me, making me jump.

"Let's go somewhere quiet and I'll tell you there. We're drawing a crowd."

"Okay. Come with me."

Reyna led me to a small, dark, and completely unpopulated place behind the _principia_. There I told her both the facts and my suspicions.

Reyna pursed her lips. "So, you think he'll be okay? Should I contact Annabeth?"

"I'm not sure. I definitely think you should contact Annabeth. Chiron too. Tell them we found him and he's in bad shape."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to wait 'till the medics are done, check on Percy, and figure out what happened to him if he's awake."

"You should come with me. The medics will be a while if it's poison like you say it is. This way you can tell Chiron and Annabeth what happened."

"Fine…"

"Hey, we're both worried about him. Annabeth is even more so. She deserves to know what happened exactly how it happened. Chiron knows a lot about healing, so if he knows what it is, he can probably help our medics heal Percy."

"That's true…oh, all right."

We walked around the building and entered the _principia, _seeing the familiar mosaic on the ceiling and the walls draped with purple velvet.

"I'm glad Annabeth and Percy showed us how to Iris Message them. It's way faster than sending a messenger, especially since they could easily forget an important detail." Reyna said with a small smile. I took the bait and smiled back, nodding my agreement.

She walked up to one of the two empty praetor chairs and opened a little secret drawer underneath the seat of it. From the drawer she pulled out a Greek golden drachma. I followed her over to the contraption Leo Valdez from the Hephaestus cabin at CampHalf-Blood built. It looked like a simple small metal box, but there was a spout on the top that sprayed a fine mist into the rays of the sun, creating a rainbow. We looked at each other and nodded. Reyna took a deep breath and said the prayer for the Iris Message:

"O' Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show us Annabeth Chase at Camp Half-Blood." Then she lightly tossed the drachma into the mist. We watched it shimmer out of sight. Then an image of Annabeth teaching some demigod Ancient Greek showed up.

"Annabeth," I said loud enough to get her attention. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have important news."

"About Percy?" She asked it as though she was scared of the answer.

I nodded.

"Okay, hold on," She turned to the guy that was with her. "Trent, will you go get Chiron?"

"Sure." He replied.

"Thank you."

After he was gone, Annabeth turned back to us.

"Did you find him? Is he all right? Is he injured?"

"Yes, we found him, and yes he is slightly injured. Wait until Chiron gets here. We'll explain everything then."

"Oh," She said in a small voice, "Ok, then."

Five minutes later, Chiron arrived.

"You found him, I presume."

"Yes." Reyna responded.

"Is he going to be okay?"

The praetor beside me glanced at Annabeth.

"I'm sorry to say this, but we aren't sure. Jason believes that one of his injuries may have been poisoned."

Chiron frowned and looked at me.

"Tell me what happened."

When I finished the story, he closed his eyes as if in pain.

"I believe I know what the poison is. Would you like Annabeth and me to come over to you're camp and help?"

"Annabeth at least. You would most likely be a welcome addition, too."

He nodded.

"We will be over within the hour."

Then he swiped his hand through the mist and the image faded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jason**

Around forty-five minutes later, a messenger burst through the doors saying there were a centaur and a female demigod wanting in. We jogged back with him and let them through. Reyna and I tried to get Chiron to tell us what the poison was on the way to the infirmary, but he stubbornly avoided telling us.

"I'll tell you if Percy survives."

That was all he'd say.

When we got there, the medics were still trying to keep Percy alive. He was still unconscious, bandaged in several spots, pale, and barely breathing. Chiron gently helped Annabeth off his back as she swallowed back her sobs, and trotted over to the medical team. He asked if he could administer something to his pupil, they all looked over at me and Reyna. We both nodded, and then they stepped back, occasionally passing the centaur something he needed.

When he was done, he leaned back.

"That's all I can do for now I'm afraid. All we can do is wait."

Most of the medics nodded knowingly and filtered away. The rest asked if we needed anything, and when all of us said no, they too walked off. One hovered near by, helping other patients, glancing in our direction occasionally checking on both us and Percy…mostly on Percy.

Annabeth sat down in a chair near Percy's bedside and held his hand. Chiron had brought his wheelchair and backed into it. Reyna and I walked over to another person and asked if we could borrow two chairs. Then, we moved them over near Percy. Everything seemed oddly quiet and time seemed to drag.

_If time is dragging for me, I can only imagine what it's doing for Annabeth…_

I looked over at her in pity. She was sitting there, watching her boyfriend like a hawk, and trying not to cry. She was probably silently praying to every god and goddess that she could think of he'd be all right, wishing he'd wake up and everything would be fine again.

Then, as the thought came, Percy's eyes opened. He looked dazed for a minute, and then made eye contact with us and smiled to let us know he was okay. He would heal. When he got four relieved answering smiles, he laughed.

"I'll be fine. I promise."


	4. NOT A CHAPTER!

_**This is not a chapter!**_

1. I originally wrote this story before Son of Neptune. When I wrote it, I had assumed the Romans had Pegasi, too. So I wrote Jason's Pegasus as a female. Later I read that Scipio was the only Pegasus there, so when I posted this story, I had to go through and change the Pegasus gender (changing she to he, instead of Jason saying "Good girl." he says "Good boy.", ect.) I just noticed that I missed a change in chapter two. Sorry if there was any confusion.

2. I have not written any more for this story and probably never will. It was a school project that I really liked, so I decided to break it into chapters and post it.

3. Anyone is allowed to continue this story, so long as they let me know via review or PM.


	5. Still not a chapter (Sorry)

_**This is not a chapter either.**_

This story is being continued by Don't Touch My Seaweed Brain. I had intended to put this up way earlier, but somehow, even though I get on FanFiction daily, I never did.

To Olive: I would have PMed you, but you either weren't logged in to your account, or you don't have one. Thank you very much for reviewing and for the compliment. You don't know how much I appreciated it. If I ever get the inspiration to do so (I'm currently lacking in that department), I'll write/post more stories. Heck, I may even dedicate one to you. No one has told me anything like that in a way that made me feel kind of guilty for not continuing this. Thank you. :-)


End file.
